A number of system OEMs announced plans for Windows Home Server-based PCs …

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Microsoft's Windows Home Server OS has been available for purchase since October (we reviewed it a few weeks ago), but there haven't been many OEMs offering boxes designed around the product until now. Starting today, the HP MediaSmart server should be available for preorder at Amazon, Best Buy, Circuit City, or CompUSA, with systems expected to ship in late November. The MediaSmart is based on the AMD Live! platform and will be offered in two flavors. HP's official pricing on the 500GB model is $599, while the 1TB system is $749.

As we've covered before, Windows Home Server is an operating system designed to turn a single PC into a centralized storage node for various types of media and data files. In addition, it's capable of functioning as a backup system for all attached PCs, as it monitors the health and status of connected PCs. WHS can also stream media to either another computer or to an Xbox 360. System requirements are very modest, and the OS performs well on legacy hardware.

A number of other vendors such as Fujitsu, Iomega, Velocity Micro, and Medion, have also announced plans to ship WHS systems in late 2007 to early 2008, while Tranquil's PC T7-HSA server is already available (we covered the next-generation version of this system last week). Gateway is planning a line of WHS products but hasn't released details yet, while Intel is reportedly working on a "new, ideal platform" for Windows Home Server as well.

All the announcements indicate a great deal of interest in WHS from OEMs, but it's too early to tell whether or not customers will embrace the idea of buying or building a WHS system. If HP's pricing on the MediaSmart is any indication, these systems aren't exactly going to be cheap. On the other hand, the rising popularity of notebooks (and the possibility of having one's system stolen or broken) could actually encourage people to invest in a centralized backup system.